Post Turkey Day screening: W.C. Fields in 'So's Your Old Man' on Sunday, Dec. 1 in Wilton, N.H.

Outside the Coolidge Corner's marquee prior to 'Thief of Bagdad.'

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, among the many things I have to be thankful for is making it through 'The Thief of Bagdad' last Tuesday night. I accompanied the film just hours after having a stent removed following last week's kidney stone surgery.

'Bagdad' had been scheduled for the Coolidge Corner's 'Sounds of Silents' series long before the kidney stone decided to make an appearance. It just worked out that the stent removal (a follow-up to the surgery itself) wound up getting scheduled for the same day as the film.

But the show must go on! So driving into Boston, I was already thinking ahead to places in the film where I could set up an atmospheric loop on the synthesizer, which would enable me to quickly escape to the men's room if needed.

Well, turns out I had no problems. Actually, I think getting absorbed in doing music for this sprawling, ambitious picture helped minimize any distracting pain or lingering discomfort, which is a phenomenon I've noticed before.

If I'm suffering, say, a bad cold, whatever symptoms I have seem to recede or disappear entirely when I'm accompanying a film. They'll return afterwards, but during the time I'm at the keyboard it's like a reprieve.

Some say laughter is the best medicine. I say it's creating live music for a silent film screening!

And I'll get to do it again on Sunday, Dec. 1 when I accompany 'So's Your Old Man' (1926) at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. More info is in the press release pasted in below.

It's a silent comedy starring W.C. Fields, so lucky me: I'll get the therapeutic benefits of both laughter and silent film accompaniment.

Happy Thanksgiving and see you at the movies!

*    *    *

An original lobby card for 'So's Your Old Man' (1926) starring W.C. Fields.

MONDAY, NOV. 18, 2024 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Town Hall Theatre to screen rare silent film starring comic icon W.C. Fields

'So's Your Old Man' shows legendary performer as younger man; program on Sunday, Dec. 1 accompanied by live music

WILTON, N.H.—He was a performer who could be recognized by just the nasal twang of his voice.

But prior to reaching iconic fame in talking pictures, W.C. Fields successfully starred in a popular series of silent feature films for Paramount Pictures and other studios in the 1920s.

Rediscover the non-talking W.C. Fields in 'So's Your Old Man' (1926) one of his best silent pictures, in a Thanksgiving Day weekend screening on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Live musical scoring will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses. 

In 'So's Your Old Man' (1926), Fields plays Sam Bisbee, inventor of a new shatter-proof windshield glass and regarded as a crackpot by the townsfolk.

After a demonstration of his glass to auto executives goes awry, he faces ridicule and shame. On the way home, Bisbee encounters a woman he thinks is trying to commit suicide, and so prevents her.

 

W.C. Fields (right) in a scene from 'So's Your Old Man' (1926).

The woman is really Princess Lescaboura, member of a family of European royalty, who later arrives in Bisbee's home town to thank him, upending Bisbee's life and setting the small town aflame with gossip. The film includes a version of Fields' famous "golf" routine.

The film was remade as a talkie in 1934, with W.C. Fields again starring, under the title 'You're Telling Me!' In 2008, 'So's Your Old Man' was added to the U.S. National Film Registry.

W.C. Fields remains famous today for his comic persona as a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist with a snarling contempt for dogs, children and women.

Although Fields achieved lasting fame as a movie star in talking pictures of the 1930s, his long career encompassed decades on the vaudeville stage as well as a series of silent film roles in the 1920s.

"People find it hard to think of W.C. Fields in silent films, but he was actually quite successful," Rapsis said. "As a vaudeville performer and juggler, Fields cultivated a form of visual comedy and pantomime that transferred well to the silent screen.

"Also, as a middle-aged man during the silent film era, he was able to play a family father figure—the kind of role that wasn't open to younger comic stars such as Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton," Rapsis said.

In all, Fields starred in 10 silent features in the mid-1920s. Several are lost; in those that survive, Fields sports a thick mustache, part of his vaudeville costume as a "vagabond juggler" which he dropped in later years.

W.C. Fields (at right) includes his legendary golf routine in 'So's Your Old Man' (1926).

The film was made not in Hollywood, but at the Paramount studios in Astoria, Queens, a popular production facility for New York-based stage performers who also appeared in film.

For the music, Rapsis improvises in real time, while the film is running, using a digital synthesizer that allow him to recreate the "movie score" texture of a full orchestra.

"Improvising a score live is a bit of a high-wire act, but it allows me to follow and support the film a lot more effectively than if I was buried in sheet music," Rapsis said.

"Instead, I'm free to follow the film right in the moment. Each time it's different, which lends a certain energy and immediacy and excitement to the experience."

'So's Your Old Man,' a silent comedy starring W.C. Fields, will be screened with live music on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H.

Admission is free; donations are accepted, with $10 per person suggested to defray expenses. For more information, call the theater at (603) 654-3456.

Next up: 100th anniversary of Doug Fairbanks in 'Thief of Bagdad' on Saturday, 6/8 in Brandon, Vt

A promotional image for 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924).

First, a quick thank you to everyone who contributed to this site recently reaching the milestone of 1 million page views

I've been keeping this running log about my silent film accompaniment adventures for about 15 years now. It's been fun and I'll continue to do so.

It's mostly to get the word out about upcoming screenings, such as 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), which I'm accompanying on Saturday, June 8 in Brandon, Vt. (See below!)

But occasionally I share more in-depth thoughts about the craft of accompanying, the silent era, the films themselves, or other idiosyncratic topics.

It's an intermittent diary of sorts, a record that helps me remember and keep track of the experiences I've had so far. 

Next up is a biggie: Douglas Fairbanks in 'The Thief of Bagdad,' which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this season. 

I hope you'll join me up in Brandon, Vt. on Saturday, June 8 for a screening of this timeless motion picture fantasy. More info in the press release below!

*     *     *

An original poster for 'The Thief of Bagdad; (1924)

Classic epic 'Thief of Bagdad' to screen Saturday, June 8 at Brandon Town Hall

Adventure/fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. presented with live music in celebration of film's 100th anniversary

BRANDON, Vt.—It ranks among the first Hollywood epics to show the full potential for movies to depict entire worlds of fantasy. It was also one of the top grossing films of 1924.

It was 'The Thief of Bagdad,' a celebrated triumph for actor/director Douglas Fairbanks that stands as one of greatest achievements of cinema's silent era.

It's a film filled with images of flying carpets, exotic cities, underwater palaces, winged horses, fire-breathing dragons, and more!

See if for yourself with live music on Saturday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at Brandon Town Hall and Community Center. All are welcome to this family-friendly event. 

Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations.

This 100th anniversary screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad' will be accompanied with live music by Jeff Rapsis.

Douglas Fairbanks, star of 'The Thief of Bagdad,' was the Harrison Ford of his time—a pioneering action hero who was among the first to entertain movie audiences with thrilling adventures.

'The Thief of Bagdad' stands among his best work. It's a timeless fable on a grand scale, boasting a great story, spectacular sets, and magical special effects.

A bare-chested Fairbanks plays a crafty street-smart rogue who can easily steal anything his heart desires—except the love of a beautiful princess, daughter of the powerful Caliph of Bagdad.

To win her hand, he must not only change his ways, but also show his worthiness over many other highly placed suitors.

In making the film, Fairbanks spared no expense for what some critics still regard as the most lavish fantasy movie ever made, a show-stopping adaptation of the traditional "A Thousand and One Nights" Arabian legend. 

The result is an epic in which a flying carpet is just one of many eye-popping sights designed to astound movie audiences.

 

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in costume for 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924).

Fairbanks, swaggering through massive marketplace sets and cavernous throne rooms as an incorrigible pickpocket, scales towering walls (with the help of a magic rope) and leads merry chases through crowded bazaars in his pursuit of loot.

The jaunty opening is a preamble to the film's spectacular second half, in which the repentant thief embarks on an odyssey through caverns of fire, underwater palaces, and even outer space. 

Special effects range from a giant smoke-belching dragon to a magical flying horse, and still glow with a timeless sense of wonder from the early days of movies.

William Cameron Menzies's sets were among the largest ever created for a motion picture. Especially noteworthy is his design for a mythical Bagdad, a unique combination of Art Deco and Islamic elements—a dream city inspired by illustrations from story books.

Fairbanks, among the most popular stars of the 1920s, was the inspiration for the character of George Valentin in the Oscar-winning Best Picture 'The Artist' (2011). 

Fairbanks was known for films that used the then-new medium of motion pictures to transport audiences to historical time periods for grand adventures and athletic stunts. 

He's often referred to as "Douglas Fairbanks Sr." to avoid confusion with his son, the actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

A century after its premiere, 'The Thief of Bagdad' remains highly regarded. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Live music for 'The Thief of Bagdad' will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to create a traditional full orchestra "movie score" sound.

"Seeing a Fairbanks picture in a theater with live music and an audience is a classic movie experience," Rapsis said.

Rapsis emphasized the unique value of seeing early cinema as it was originally presented.

"These films were designed for the big screen, live music, and large audiences. If you put it all together again, you get a sense of why people first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

The screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad' is sponsored by Kathy and Wayne Rausenberger, Donna Malewicki, Jean and Harold Somerset, Donald and Dolories Furnari, Gary and Nancy Meffe, and Pam and Steve Douglass.

 
Other films in this year's Brandon Town Hall silent film series include:

• Saturday, July 20, 2024, 7 p.m.: "The Cameraman" (1928) starring Buster Keaton. In 'The Cameraman,' Keaton tries to impress the gal of his dreams by working as a newsreel photographer. Can he get a break and get the girl? Classic visual comedy with Keaton at the peak of his creative powers; set in NYC and includes 1920s shots of Midtown Manhattan and the old Yankee Stadium.

• Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" (1921) starring Rudolph Valentino. Sweeping drama of a divided family with members caught up on opposites sides during World War I. Breakthrough film for Rudolph Valentino, introducing the sultry tango and launching him to stardom. The real deal! Shown both in honor of the 110th anniversary of World War I's outbreak and the anniversary of Valentino's untimely death in 1926.

• Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Speedy" (1928) starring Harold Lloyd. Harold's final silent feature cis a tribute to New York City, baseball, and the idea that nice guys can indeed finish first, highlighted by one of the most exciting races to the finish in all silent cinema. Complete with an extended cameo from none other than Babe Ruth!

• Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Phantom of the Opera" (1925) starring Lon Chaney. Long before Andrew Lloyd Webber created the hit stage musical, this silent film adaptation starring Lon Chaney put 'Phantom' firmly in the pantheon of both horror and romance. Just in time for Halloween!

• Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, 7 p.m.: "Barbed Wire" (1927) starring Pola Negri, Clive Brook. During World War I, the French government commandeers a family farm for use as a camp for German POWs, setting the local population at each other. Intense drama about forbidden love and the human condition, with a special holiday twist.

See Douglas FairbanksSr.  in the 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) with live music on Saturday, June 8 at 7 p.m. at the Brandon Town Hall and Community Center, Route 7, in Brandon, Vt. All are welcome to this family-friendly event. Admission is free, with free will donations accepted in support of ongoing Town Hall renovations.

For information, visit www.brandontownhall.com.

Restarting silent film screenings: report from 'Thief of Bagdad' at the Town Hall Theatre

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. to the rescue!

Yesterday's screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) was the first for me in nearly four months. How did it go?

The big news was the audience. From what I hear, attendance at reopened theaters has been pretty light: people are wary of Covid-19, and also Hollywood isn't releasing much.

Well, except through streaming. 'Hamilton' should have been a big title for theaters this summer, but Disney went with streaming instead. It's another factor making it more difficult for small theaters to stay in business, even factoring out coronavirus.

So how does Douglas Fairbanks Sr. fare in this environment? Well, pretty darned good, I'd have to say.

About 30 people turned up for yesterday's screening at the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. Ordinarily, that would be somewhat disappointing, even for a sunny summer Sunday.

But theater owner/operator Dennis Markaverich told me it was the biggest turnout for anything since the house reopened this month.

Well, that says something about today's cinema: the most popular title so far is a 1924 blockbuster. Hey, I'll take it!

The screening was a success, as really any big Fairbanks picture is really bound to be. Even I have a hard time messing up his great films of the 1920s: almost a century later, they still hold an audience, and they still hold up.

Town Hall Theatre: interior.

That's one reason the Town Hall Theatre is running a 'Five by Fairbanks' summer series of swashbucklers. If today's Hollywood won't do much to bring people to theaters, then we can at least look to yesterday's hits to get people back into the habit.

So coming up, it's 'Three Musketeers' (1921) on Sunday, July 26; 'Robin Hood' (1922) on Sunday, Aug. 9; and then a 'Zorro' double feature: 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920) on Saturday, Aug. 29 and then its sequel, 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925) on Sunday, Aug. 30.

Let me say to those concerned about coronavirus: the Town Hall Theater has room for a lot more people, even while limited to half-capacity due to the pandemic per New Hampshire public health guidelines. Thankfully, our state is one of the very few where coronavirus cases continue to decline right now, although that could change if we stop being careful.

So it was a relief to see everyone gladly wearing masks and sitting far enough apart to observe social distancing. Dennis isn't blocking off seats, but it relying on a "laissez faire" approach to social distancing, which for better or worse is kinda the New Hampshire way. (See how we handle seat belts.)

I wore a mask except for when I made opening remarks to the audience, which was seated far enough away, and also when accompanying the film, when I felt the mask got in the way of seeing the keyboard. I really don't think I could accompany in the same way while wearing a mask, as I seem to go stretches without taking a breath, and then take a big one. I don't know, but it would take some getting used to.

Town Hall Theatre: the exterior.

Well, on that topic: Another way yesterday's screening scored a success, I have to say, was with the music.

After a layoff of nearly four months, I wasn't sure how I'd do. All along, I've believed a regular performance schedule was crucial to keeping up fluency in live film accompaniment, at least given my specialized (and limited) musical skills. By "regular" I mean an average of twice a week, and by "performance" I mean in front of actual people while a film is playing, forcing one into a mental state that for me is part of the process.

Well, notwithstanding a little rust here and there, I found film accompaniment to be rather like riding a bicycle. It felt like my last show (Sunday, March 15 at the Somerville Theatre in Boston) was just a few days ago. The only issues were mechanical ones: I just had a few "ciphers" (notes that kept sounding) to deal with, probably due to dust in the keyboard or just lack of use, and also my sustain pedal was squeaky and needs oiling.

Musically, I thought working on pieces such as some Chopin polonaises during the break might give my keyboard playing new depth and insight. Ha! Other than a slightly improved facility with chromatic passages, it was the same old slow-developing me, right back where I left off four months ago.

So for 'Bagdad,' that meant a pseudo-Scheherazadic world of modal scales and melodies with flattened seconds, but everything seemed to hold together as I channeled my inner Rimsky-Korsakov. Afterwards, a concert violinist friend who attended paid me the ultimate compliment: he was so engrossed by the movie that he forgot the music was being made live.

Wow! And this is a guy who studied with Jascha Heifetz!

Speaking of people at screenings: we also had an older gentleman who I'd never seen before. Afterwards, he raised his hand. Working as a delivery boy in New York in the 1950s, he once made a delivery in person to none other than Douglas Fairbanks Jr. He found Doug a nice guy, but didn't respond to my wiseguy question about what kind of a tipper he was.

Ah, the charmed show-biz life we lead here in New Hampshire!

But that's not all. After the lights came up, I found out that author/screenwriter Alison McMahan was in the audience. She introduced herself, and at first the name didn't click. But she's the author of Alice Guy Blaché: Lost Visionary of the Cinema, among many other projects.

We exchanged a few pleasantries about the recent rediscovery of a lost Blaché's title in a New Hampshire barn, of all places. Turns out she recently moved to Manchester, N.H., again of all places. So another nice surprise to make the acquaintance of her and her husband, whose name escapes me, although after a screening I sometimes can't remember my own name.

But make no mistake: it was Doug Sr. who carried the day at yesterday's screening. Thanks to everyone who ventured out to the Town Hall for yesterday's screening. Reaction was strong and supportive, and our new earlier start time of 2 p.m. provided ample opportunity afterwards to talk and answer questions, even following Doug's 2½-hour epic.

Many other silent film screenings remain cancelled for me, and probably will remain so into 2021. But if you're in the area and need your silent film/live music fix, the Town Hall Theatre is open and has a strong dose waiting for you.

And if nothing else, next month's 'Zorro' should remind everyone to wear a mask!

Comeback time! Silent films with live music return to Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H.

All this on Sunday, July 12, and flying carpets besides!

Two words I've been waiting nearly four months to write: They're back!

Silent films with live music, that is. After a long, well, silence, silent film programs with live music are starting to reappear as theatres reopen, at least in my corner of the world.

Specifically, the Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H. will reopen this weekend after being shut for nearly a third of a year due to Covid-19.

And that includes resuming the regular schedule of silent films with live music. So not only are silent films back, but the house accompanist is back as well.

First up is 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), which we hoped to run in June to open our "Series of Summer Swashbucklers" (say that five times fast) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr., but we've now squooshed it over to Sunday, July 12 instead.

The swashbuckler series will culminate in August with a weekend-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Doug's original megahit, 'The Mask of Zorro' (1920).

I'm looking forward to that one, as these days you can't go wrong with a title that features the word "mask."

But first things first: 'The Thief of Bagdad' is a great way to get back. It's an eye-popping spectacle and among Fairbanks' best work, as detailed in the press release attached below.

One thing about Covid-19: in order to reopen, the Town Hall Theatre has had to make some changes to follow public health guidelines.

First, showtimes are 2 p.m. now instead of the former start time of 4:30 p.m., as the theater needs to be cleaned and sanitized between screenings.

Also, movie-goers are asked to observe social distancing in the theater as in other spaces such as the lobby. Face coverings will be required.

In addition, the theater can sit only 50 percent of its capacity, which means we're limited to about 100 people. I'm not sure what kind of attendance we'll get, but if we max out, we'll try to schedule follow-up screenings at a future date to accommodate everyone.

The Town Hall Theatre's main screening room.

On a personal note: I'm grateful to longtime Town Hall Theatre owner/operater (sounds like a truck driver!) Dennis Markaverich for his continuing support of the silent film series.

We've been presenting every month (and sometimes more often) since 2008. If we keep going, our series will soon have lasted longer than the height of the silent period itself!

So thanks to Dennis, and to our loyal audience. I hope the shows continue to meet expectations as we collaborate in bringing to life this lost but lively period of unique artistic achievement.

My last public screening was Sunday, March 15: a double feature of silent Rin Tin Tin films at the Somerville Theatre. Since then, nothing! Within a few days, dozens of performances were cancelled or postponed going all the way through this summer and beyond.

For an accompanist, it's like a drunk being shut off cold turkey.

In my case, I had plenty to do at my day job, which is director of the Aviation Museum of N.H., a small non-profit here in my home state. We had to close, too, and with no money coming in, it was more than a full-time job to manage us through the situation.

One outcome of our efforts was quite serendipitous, and I'm proud enough of it to want to share it here.

Our museum does a lot of in-classroom educational outreach, but that had to stop as well because schools closed and moved to a remote learning model.

What to do? At the museum, we decided to use our flight simulator to create a virtual "Around the World Flight Adventure," a free online program designed to be a educational resource for teachers and students. Besides the physics of flight, we touch on geography, history, culture, and even local snack foods around the globe.

We left our home base at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport on May 1, and ever since we've been cruising around the world in a vintage (and virtual) C-47 twin-engine propeller transport, the exact same type of plane my father flew in World War II.

Here we are, flying over the Colosseum in Rome.

And to our surprise, it's really caught on. By combining the rarefied world of the flight simulator (and the latest terrain software, which renders any part of the globe in amazing detail), and repurposing it for general education, we may have invented something new.

Not content to leave it at that, we've tried livestreaming some of the flight segments. Our Memorial Day flight over the beaches of Normandy, France, was somehow picked up by Newsweek Magazine as one of five ways Americans could celebrate Memorial Day virtually, giving us a massive audience from all parts of the globe!

I invite you to check out our 'Around the World Flight Adventure,' which is still going on.

Fortunately, not all has been quiet in the silent film world. Among the bright spots: my colleague Ben Model, a New York-based accompanist, has developed a weekly online "Silent Comedy Watch Party" that's entertaining audiences all over the world. Here's a typical episode.

The show, produced out of Ben's home, has the feel of an early television program, almost like something Ernie Kovacs would have done. I keep expecting an appearance by German disc chockey Wolfgang von Sauerbraten, or Edie Adams to come in and do a song.

Congratulations to Ben, his collaborator Steve Massa, and all the others who play a part in bringing the program to life. I hope it continues, pandemic or not.

For my own part, I have used the break to work on my keyboard technique. My big project is to get the entire Chopin Polonaise in A flat (the "Heroic") under my fingers, and believe it or not I'm about 80 percent there.

If you've never heard it, here it is played by someone who can truly handle it. (The image at left is the only photo of Chopin; he looks like he just heard me trying to play his music.)

Although I improvise and create my own music for film scores, taking the time to work through a piece such as the Chopin helps give me the tools and fluency to go to more and different places.

I'll keep working on the Polonaise (and some other pieces) as it'll be awhile before I get back to the former pace of about 100 performances a year. Many theaters aren't close to opening, and of course we may go back into "stay at home" mode if the virus flares up again.

But 'Thief of Bagdad' is a go, so hope you'll be able to join us as we get back in the groove of recreating the magic of early cinema. Here's the press release with more info:

* * *

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. as 'The Thief of Bagdad.'

TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Silent film with live music returns to Town Hall Theatre on Sunday, July 12

Summer swashbuckler series to open with Douglas Fairbanks in 'The Thief of Bagdad,' epic 1924 adventure

WILTON, N.H.—It's a comeback worth making some noise about.

After a three-month hiatus due to Covid-19, the Town Hall Theatre's long-running silent film series will restart in July, with extra screenings added to make up for missed shows.

First up is the Douglas Fairbanks Sr. adventure 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), to be shown on Sunday, July 12 at 2 p.m. Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to help defray expenses.

The screening will be accompanied with live music by Jeff Rapsis.

Accommodations will be made to keep patrons safe in the Covid-19 era. Silent film programs will now start at 2 p.m. so the Town Hall Theatre can comply with CDC and local public health guidelines for movie theaters, which recommend ample time between screenings for cleaning and sanitizing.

Also, seating will be arranged to observe social distancing and masks will be required inside the theater.

Douglas Fairbanks, star of 'The Thief of Bagdad,' was the Harrison Ford of his time—a pioneering action hero who was among the first to entertain movie audiences with thrilling swashbuckling adventures.

'The Thief of Bagdad' stands among his best work. It's a timeless fable on a grand scale, boasting a great story, spectacular sets, and magical special effects.

Another scene featuring the famous flying carpet.

A bare-chested Fairbanks plays a crafty street-smart rogue who can easily steal anything his heart desires—anything, that is, except the love of a beautiful princess, daughter of the powerful Caliph of Bagdad.

To win her hand, he must not only change his ways, but also show his worthiness over many other highly placed suitors.

In making the film, Fairbanks spared no expense for what some critics still regard as the most lavish fantasy movie ever made, a show-stopping adaptation of the traditional "A Thousand and One Nights" Arabian legend. The result is an epic in which a flying carpet is just one of many eye-popping sights designed to astound movie audiences.

Fairbanks, swaggering through massive marketplace sets and cavernous throne rooms as an incorrigible pickpocket, scales towering walls (with the help of a magic rope) and leads merry chases through crowded bazaars in his pursuit of loot.

The jaunty opening is a preamble to the film's spectacular second half, in which the repentant thief embarks on an odyssey through caverns of fire, underwater palaces, and even outer space. Special effects range from a giant smoke-belching dragon to a magical flying horse, and still glow with a timeless sense of wonder from the early days of movies.

William Cameron Menzies's sets were among the largest ever created for a motion picture. Especially noteworthy is his design for a mythical Bagdad, a unique combination of Art Deco and Islamic elements—a dream city inspired by illustrations from story books.

You want a winged horse? Yup, 'Thief of Bagdad' has one of those, too!

Fairbanks, among the most popular stars of the 1920s, was the inspiration for the character of George Valentin in the Oscar-winning Best Picture 'The Artist' (2011). Fairbanks was known for films that used the then-new medium of motion pictures to transport audiences to historical time periods for grand adventures and athletic stunts. He's often referred to as "Douglas Fairbanks Sr." to avoid confusion with his son, the actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Nearly a century after its premiere, 'The Thief of Bagdad' remains highly regarded. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Live music for 'The Thief of Bagdad' will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to create a traditional full orchestra "movie score" sound.

"Seeing a Fairbanks picture in a theater with live music and an audience is a classic movie experience," Rapsis said.

Rapsis emphasized the unique value of seeing early cinema as it was originally presented.

"These films were designed for the big screen, live music, and large audiences. If you put it all together again, you get a sense of why people first fell in love with the movies," Rapsis said.

'The Thief of Bagdad' opens a summer season of silent swashbucklers at the Town Hall Theatre, all starring Douglas Fairbanks. The series will be highlighted by a special Saturday/Sunday screening of 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920) and its sequel, 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925) on the last weekend of August:

● Sunday, July 26 at 2 p.m.: 'The Three Musketeers' (1921) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Original screen adaptation that set the bar for movie versions of The Three Musketeers as well as for the swashbuckler genre itself. An action-adventure tale of a young Gascon, D'Artagnan, whose dream is to join the King's Musketeers, and travels to Paris to do so.

● Sunday, Aug. 9 at 2 p.m.: 'Robin Hood' (1922) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Sword-fighting and archery abound as Fairbanks forsakes his noble identity as the Earl of Huntingdon to become Robin Hood, robbing the rich to give to the poor, all the while pursuing the hand of his beloved Lady Marian.

● Saturday, Aug. 29 at 2 p.m. 'The Mark of Zorro' (1920) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. 100th anniversary of the break-through adventure film where Fairbanks discovered his talent for playing swashbuckling heroes of yore. Still pleasing crowds a century after it first hit theaters!

● Sunday, Aug. 30 at 2 p.m.: 'Don Q, Son of Zorro' (1925) starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. Action/adventure sequel to mega-hit 'Zorro' with Fairbanks playing both son and father, and having a ball in both roles. Builds on the original film to create a hugely entertaining swashbuckler that shows how far Hollywood had come in just five years.

'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr., will be screened with live music on Sunday, July 12 at 2 p.m. at the Town Hall Theatre, 40 Main St., Wilton, N.H. Admission is free; a donation of $10 per person is suggested to defray expenses.

For more info, visit www.wiltontownhalltheatre.com or call (603) 654-3456.

Epic adventure on Thursday, April 14: 'The Thief of Bagdad' in Plymouth, N.H.

An original poster for 'The Thief of Bagdad.

It's almost like getting two films in one!

That's the thought I have about 'The Thief of Bagdad,' the great adventure film that probably marked the high point in the career of Douglas Fairbanks Sr.

It was an age when filmmakers were exploring the limits of what this new medium, the motion picture, could do. And Fairbanks wanted to keep up.

So he created this adaptation of the 'One Thousand and One Nights' legends of Arabia. And he really hit it out of the park, if you ask me.

More than most silent films, this one puts me in the mind of a child going to see this film when it was first released. What a wonder it must have been!

And today, if you allow your inner child to come forth, 'The Thief of Bagdad' still is.

So what about those two films in one?

Well, the film's first half plays like a fantastical romance. Set in a mythical Bagdad of yore (created in Art Deco style by William Cameron Menzies), the first half contains more than enough story and visual splendor to satisfy a movie-goer of the time, or of any time, really.

But then!

In the second half, Fairbanks busts out of the boundaries of Bagdad and takes the film into flights of pure visual fantasy.

We get underwater sequences, battles with monsters, animated trees—not to mention the famous flying carpet.

There had been nothing like it in cinema, and really hasn't been anything quite like it since, I think.

See it for yourself on the big screen on Thursday, April 14, when we screen 'The Thief of Bagdad' at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H.

More details in the press release below. Hope you can join us!

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Douglas Fairbanks Sr. playing the title role in 'The Thief of Bagdad.'

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

Flying Monkey to screen 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) with live music on Thursday, April 14

Epic silent film fantasy classic starring Douglas Fairbanks set new standards for Hollywood magic

PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Silent film with live music returns to the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center with a screening of one of early Hollywood's most exciting fantasy adventure movies.

Douglas Fairbanks Sr. stars in 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), to be shown on Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey, 39 South Main St. in Plymouth.

Live music will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is $10 per person.

The screening continues the Flying Monkey's monthly series of silent film screenings, which aims to revive big-screen showings of great silent features—the films that first caused audiences to fall in love with the movies.

"If you've never seen a silent film in a theater with live music and an audience, the Fairbanks pictures are a great way to experience the medium at its best," Rapsis said. "When you put all the elements together, silent film has an ability to stir up emotions in a way that no other medium can."

The athletic Fairbanks was the Harrison Ford of his time—a pioneering action hero among the first to entertain movie audiences with thrilling on-screen adventures. Among his best work is 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), a timeless adventure boasting a great story, spectacular sets, and magical special effects.

In 'The Thief of Bagdad,' a bare-chested Fairbanks plays a crafty rogue who easily steals everything his heart desires—everything, that is, except the love of a beautiful princess, daughter of the powerful Caliph of Bagdad.

To win her hand, he must not only change his ways, but also convince her of his worthiness over many other highly placed suitors.

In making the film, Fairbanks spared no expense for what some critics still regard as the most lavish fantasy movie ever made, a show-stopping adaptation of the traditional "A Thousand and One Nights" story in which a flying carpet is just one of many eye-popping sights that astounded movies audiences at the time.

Fairbanks, swaggering through massive marketplace sets and cavernous throne rooms as an incorrigible pickpocket, scales towering walls (with the help of a magic rope) and leads merry chases through crowded bazaars in his pursuit of loot—until he falls in love with the princess and vows to win her heart.

The jaunty opening is a preamble to the film's spectacular second half, in which the repentant thief embarks on an odyssey through caverns of fire, underwater palaces, and even outer space. Special effects range from a smoke-belching dragon to a magical flying horse, and still glow with a timeless sense of wonder from the early days of movies.

Soaring over a stylized Bagdad skyline.

William Cameron Menzies's sets were among the largest ever created for a motion picture. Especially noteworthy is his design for a mythical Bagdad, a unique combination of Art Deco and Islamic elements—a dream city inspired by illustrations from story books.

Fairbanks, one of the most popular stars of the 1920s, was the inspiration for the character of George Valentin in the recent Oscar-winning Best Picture 'The Artist' (2011). Fairbanks was known for films that used the then-new medium of motion pictures to transport audiences to historical time periods for grand adventures and athletic stunts. He's often referred to as "Douglas Fairbanks Sr." to avoid confusion with his son, the actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

Live music for 'The Thief of Bagdad' will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to create a traditional full orchestra "movie score" sound.

More than 90 nears after its premiere, 'The Thief of Bagdad' continues to be held in high regard. In 1996, the film was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Fairbanks himself considered 'The Thief of Bagdad' to be his personal favorite of all of his films.

'The Thief of Bagdad' is appropriate for family audiences, although very small children may find some sequences frightening. The film runs 2 hours and 34 minutes.

Upcoming programs in the Flying Monkey's silent film series include:

• Thursday, May 12, 2016, 6:30 p.m.: "Paths to Paradise" (1925) and "Hands Up!" (1926). A double feature of films starring Raymond Griffith, a talented comic who at one time rivaled Chaplin and Keaton in the silent comedy pantheon.

• Thursday, June 9, 2016, 6:30 p.m.: "The Winning of Barbara Worth" (1926). Epic Western drama starring Ronald Colman and Gary Cooper about the settling and irrigation of California's Imperial Valley, once a wasteland but now an agricultural paradise.

All movies in Flying Monkey's silent film series are rarely screened in a way that allows them to be seen at their best. To revive them, organizers aim to show the films as they were intended—in top quality restored prints, on a large screen, with live music, and with an audience.

'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) starring Douglas Fairbanks will be screened with live music on Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St. in Plymouth, N.H. Admission is $10 per person. For more information, call the theater at (603) 536-2551 or visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com; for more information on the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

This Mother's Day, give Mom... a bare-chested Douglas Fairbanks!

One word for it is 'synchronicity.' Another might be 'overscheduling.'

Whatever term you use, three big films in four days is a lot. But then you can never have too much of good silent film, I think, and the three coming up (in three different states, no less) are real doozies. And I mean that in a good way.

Here's a quick roster, followed by the complete press release for the first one up:

• Thursday, May 9, I'm doing music for a screening of Fritz Lang's 'Spies' (1928), the prototype of all espionage films. Showtime is 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center in Plymouth, N.H. This is a terrific audience film and I'm really looking forward to scoring it live, as I think I finally understand all the various plot strands and how they intersect. Admission $10 per person.

• Saturday, May 11, it's music for 'Peter Pan' (1924), the original film adaptation of J.M. Barrie's immortal stage play. Showtime is 7 p.m. at the lovely Brandon Town Hall in Brandon, Vt. Free admission, but donations are accepted to help ongoing renovations. It's the opening night of this year's monthly silent film series at Brandon Town Hall, a great place to take in a vintage movie. Acoustics are splendid, and practically the whole town turns out!

• Sunday, May 12, it's down to the big city to do music for a 1 p.m. matinee of 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), the epic fantasy starring Douglas Fairbanks, to be screened in 35mm at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square. (Somerville is part of Boston, Mass.) Very excited about this, as it's the first of another monthly silent film series, this one involving only 35mm prints. Best tag line of the year: "This Mother's Day, Treat Mom to Two and a Half Hours of a Barechested Douglas Fairbanks."

In the middle of all this, I'm working with students at Merrimack (N.H.) High School to create music for their stage production of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame.' We'll do three performances next week, but rehearsals are nearing an end so I'm over there several more times this week and next.

Synchronity? Over-scheduling? Here's a better term: Crazy.

And here's the full press release for tomorrow night's screening of 'Spies' (1928). If you've never seen this one in a theater, it's worth the drive up to Plymouth.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 2013 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Jeff Rapsis • (603) 236-9237 • jeffrapsis@gmail.com

'Spies' (1928) to screen with live music on Thursday, May 9 at Flying Monkey

Silent film thriller was model for James Bond; called "granddaddy" of all espionage movies

PLYMOUTH, N.H. — It was the movie that pioneered the espionage genre, complete with secret documents, hi-tech gadgets, an evil mastermind, and a beautiful but dangerous woman. It was 'Spies' (1928), an action-packed silent thiller, and will be shown with live music for one screening only on Thursday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H.

Live music will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis. Admission is $10 per person.

'Spies,' made by German director Fritz Lang at the end of the silent era, served as a blueprint for all espionage story-telling to come in movies and, later, on television. It is especially notable for the many ways it anticipated the James Bond films, in which a government's secret agent matches wits with a criminal mastermind.

Newly restored to its original length, 'Spies' has emerged as a flawlessly constructed spy thriller from the peak of the silent film era. Hugely influential, Lang's passion for meticulous detail combines with masterful storytelling and editing skills to form a relentless story of intrigue, espionage, and blackmail.

An international spy ring, headed by Haghi (Rudolf Klein-Rogge), uses technology, threats, and murder to obtain government secrets. As master spy and also president of a bank, Haghi leads a double life, using instruments of modern technology to spearhead a mad rush for secrets to assert his power over others.

Battling Haghi is the government's Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), himself a master of disguise. Can Agent 326 stop Haghi's plot before it disrupts the world's balance of power?

Putting on the screen for the first time many elements of the modern spy thriller, 'Spies' remains remarkably fresh and captivating more than 80 years since its first release. Lang carefully reveals the elaborate methods of the spies as they move through his unknown city, no doubt creating a mirror of troubled Weimar Germany, where the film was shot.

Made by Lang's own production company and, like the classic films 'M' (1931) and Metropolis (1927), written by Lang with his wife Thea von Harbou, 'Spies' is "the granddaddy of decades of intrigue epics. In its rigorous austerity, it remains the most modern of the bunch," wrote Elliott Stein of The Village Voice.

'Spies' features many of the same performers featured in 'Metropolis,' Lang's famous futuristic fantasy, including Klein-Rogge, who portrayed the scientist 'Rotwang' in the earlier movie. 'Spies' also stars Austrian actress Gerda Maurus as the mysterious woman who could prove to be the undoing of Agent 326.

The Flying Monkey originally opened a silent film moviehouse in the 1920s, and showed first-run Hollywood films to generations of area residents until closing several years ago. The theater has since been renovated by Alex Ray, owner of the Common Man restaurants, who created a performance space that hosts a wide variety of music acts.

Movies of all types, however, are still a big part of the Flying Monkey's offerings, and the silent film series is a way for the theater to remain connected to its roots.

Live music for 'Spies' will be provided by silent film accompanist Jeff Rapsis, who uses a digital synthesizer to recreate the sound and texture of the full orchestra.

"'Spies' is a wonderful film for music," said Rapsis, who improvises accompaniment using themes or melodies he composes beforehand. "In addition to telling great stories, Lang's films are also visually interesting, and so they lend themselves to music to heighten the drama and tension," Rapsis said.

'Spies' is appropriate for family audiences, although it includes intense scenes that may frighten very small children. The film is two-and-a-half hours long.

The screening of 'Spies' is part of the Flying Monkey's monthly silent film series, which gives today's audiences a chance to experience the great films of Hollywood's early years as they were intended: in restored prints, in a theater on the big screen, and with live music and an audience.

"If you've never seen a silent film in a theater with live music and an audience, this is a great way to experience the medium at its best," Rapsis said. "When you put all the elements together, silent film still has an ability to stir up an audience in a way that no other medium can."

Upcoming silent films at the Flying Monkey include:

• Thursday, June 13, 6:30 p.m.: "The Gaucho" (1927). The leader of a band of outlaws in Argentina must help save a religious shrine from being taken over and closed by a corrupt general. Audience favorite and change of pace for acclaimed swashbuckling superstar Douglas Fairbanks, who tries his hand playing a darker role than usual. Admission $10 per person.

'Spies' (1928) will be screened on Thursday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Flying Monkey Moviehouse and Performance Center, 39 South Main St., Plymouth, N.H. Admission is $10 per person. For more information, visit www.flyingmonkeynh.com or call (603) 536-2551.

The Flying Monkey runs silent film programs with live music each month. For more information about the music, visit www.jeffrapsis.com.

Showing 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924) to a real person from Bagdad

Catching up on a few random thoughts...

• On Wednesday, Sept. 26, I did music for a screening of 'The Thief of Bagdad' (1924), the great Douglas Fairbanks fantasy epic, at Red River Theatres in Concord, N.H. The audience was small, but included a family from actual present-day Bagdad, who seemed to enjoy the picture.

I wasn't sure how they got to New Hampshire, but they were at Red River at the invitation of Rick Broussard, my former colleague at New Hampshire Magazine, who was also on hand for the screening. (Rick seems to know everyone, even the recent arrivals from Bagdad.)

It's a big film and I was particularly wasted at the end of it, so I have only a fuzzy recollection of the family's reaction afterwards. One of them who spoke little English (and so was translated by someone else) communicated that when he was young, his grandmother would play music for silent films, and so when I played, he heard his grandmother. I took it as high praise!

• The gradual disappearance of the 35mm format (actual film!) for first-run movies is causing some changes at some of the venues where I do silent films. The Town Hall Theatre in Wilton, N.H., where movies have been shown since 1912, is passing on conversion for now but will continue running first-run pictures in 35mm as long as possible, in hopes that the cost of conversion will come down substantially in the future.

The Leavitt Theatre in Ogunquit, Maine, where they've been running movies since 1923, is another case. Converting a one-screen summer-only house to digital doesn't make financial sense at all, and so they're not sure what next season will bring. If 35mm prints aren't available or are hard to come by, that might be that.

If the Leavitt fails to reopen, it would be a darned shame. It's remarkably unaltered from the time it opened (the wooden seats still have wire rims underneath for gentlemen to stow their hats), and a great place to see film, with its steeply raked wooden floor.

Also, owner/operator Peter Clayton really cares about doing it right. Just check out the way he promoted a recent screening of Buster Keaton's 'The Cameraman' (1928) last month:

Can you believe it? Full-sized sidewalk posters for a Buster Keaton feature in 2012? Nearly 100 people turned out, and the audience greeted Buster's antics with one big reaction after another. It was one of the highlights of the season! (I also like being described as a "live accompanist," as opposed to the other kind.)

• There's a big piece by David Denby, film critic for The New Yorker, with this headline: "Has Hollywood Murdered the Movies?" It's pretty wide-ranging (and, yes, long) but worth a read. I was particularly interested in his ideas about how the overreliance of digital animation in today's movies (as opposed to photographing reality) has been a contributing factor in their decline.

Too much to get into here, but I did want to make the point that it's obvious to me that in screening silent films today, the reality of the photographed image (this actually happened) is one of their most compelling aspects. The further you get away from that, the less you have of a "movie" and the more you have of something else.

So silent film, with its relatively basic techniques, may still have something to teach us. These pictures, after all, are what caused people to first fall in love with the movies. Beyond being the subject of pleasant tributes such as 'The Artist,' perhaps films of this era offer some clues about what works and what doesn't. And so that's another reason they're worth looking at.

Anyway, here's the piece. I must say that I found his characterization of people who write about certain specific niches of cinema (like silent film) a little dispiriting: "They are extraordinary, some of them, and their blogs and websites generate an exfoliating mass of knowledge and opinion, a thickening density of inquiries and claims, outraged and dulcet tweets. Yet it is unlikely that they can do much to build a theatrical audience for the movies they love."

Well, I know the thousands upon thousands of people who religiously study this blog would disagree. And, thankfully, it continues to be a useful way at doing exactly what Denby doubts can be done: Get people into a theater for the shared experience of silent film with live music.